Anti-Jobs 4-inch Screen Rumors Intensify, iPhone 5 Release Date: Summer

Another reputable source has come forward with information that the iPhone 5 will indeed feature a 4-inch screen, along with a form factor redesign, for a Summer 2012 iPhone 5 release. And apparently the new design with larger screen was opposed by Steve Jobs before his death.
A new report surfaced today claiming that the 2012 iPhone 5 will indeed feature a larger screen and redesigned form factor. According to an unnamed source at iLounge, “the next-generation iPhone will not look like the teardrop-shaped version that was widely rumored for release in 2011 We’ve been told that the device will have a 4-inch display and will be 8mm longer than before, with a metal casing (probably aluminum).” The iLounge report also sheds some light on the iPhone 5 release date — targeting the Summer of 2012 as the most plausible timeframe — as well as the possible causes for the iPhone 5 not being released in 2011, stating that “We suspect that poor battery life doomed the prior prototype version, and that this one is being built with LTE-ready battery drain in mind.”
iLounge’s report comes more than two weeks after the iPhone 5 News Blog‘s own inside source reported to us on November 4th that the iPhone 5 is “going to have a 4-inch screen and will be announced in June 2012.” The only detail that our source diverges from the iLounge source on is the thinness of the iPhone 5: whereas the iLounge report is claiming that the iPhone 5 will be thicker in order to accommodate a larger battery for the 4-inch screen and 4G LTE technology, our source is claiming a thinner form factor.
It is important to note that the iPhone 5 News Blog‘s source accurately predicted that the 2011 iPhone would be a refresh of the iPhone 4 while the majority of the tech community was reporting that a teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 would be released in 2011, sporting a larger screen. The new iLounge report appears to put to rest the predictions of a teardrop form factor for the 2012 iPhone 5.
Steve Jobs Was Against a 4-inch Screen for the iPhone 5
According to several well-placed sources, it is now apparent that the iPhone 5′s release in 2011 was squelched by Steve Jobs for some unknown reason. While reports have suggested that either the battery or processor posed a performance issue for the larger-screened iPhone 5 prototype, a new report is suggesting the real reason why Steve Jobs stopped development of the iPhone was the larger screen itself.
According to The Register, Jobs himself scrapped production of the iPhone 5 due to concerns over the size of the screen, and how it might negatively impact the user experience: “Steve stepped in to kill the iPhone 5 because he thought that the bigger screen would fragment the iOS ecosystem and make some apps look less than perfect on the new phone.”
If this report is true, then a 2012 iPhone with a 4-inch screen would indeed be a major departure from the wishes of Jobs, marking Apple’s desire to move in a different direction for the design and functionality of its flagship mobile device.

<< Read Now >>

Android-powered Amazon Smartphone May Battle iPhone 5

Analysts are now predicting that Amazon will release a smartphone in 2012 to take on the iPhone 5. But rumors indicate that it will most likely feature the Android operating system.
Sensing that their brand name is quickly becoming a valuable commodity in the mobile gadget marketplace, Amazon may be looking to counter the iPhone 5 in 2012 with a smartphone of their own. According to TechLeash, analysts and tipsters embedded in the Asian tech scene are both pointing to the debut of a 2012 Amazon-branded smartphone. Their report states that “This is more than a hearsay flying around without any support, thinks Mark Mahaney, analyst for Citigroup,” who “wrote with all the confidence ‘Based on our supply chain channel checks in Asia led by Kevin Chang, Citi’s Taipei-based hardware research analyst, we believe an Amazon Smartphone will be launched in 4Q12.’”
The notion of a fourth quarter 2012 release of the Amazon smartphone would make a lot of sense for going up against the iPhone 5 release date, whether it be in June at the next WWDC, as I have reported and believe, or around the same time that the iPhone 4S was released this year. Just as Amazon has positioned the Kindle Fire to take on the iPad 2 as a price leader for this year’s Christmas shopping season, they could very well seek to do the same thing in 2012, perhaps with an even cheaper smartphone with similar features and performance to the iPhone 5.
Now being dubbed the “Kindle Phone” (a plausible name), the article goes on to explain that “Amazon’s smartphone will integrate Texas Instruments’ OMAP 4 processor and is very likely to adopt QCOM’s dual mode 6-series standalone baseband,” an impressive array of hardware, to be sure. But in terms of price, it remains to be seen if Amazon will have the wiggle room to make a cheaper smartphone than the iPhone 5 that still offers robust features, considering that production costs for the Kindle Phone may range between $150 and $170. Considering that the iPhone 4S production cost clocks in at $188, it would seem that Amazon could come in under the iPhone 5′s price tag in 2012, but it remains to be seen how low they will be able to go.
The Kindle Phone — Just Another Android
Perhaps the most interesting consideration about the Kindle Phone is what kind of operating system it may feature. Many have wondered if Amazon could debut a new operating system that differs from the current mobile OS platforms on the market now. However, early going suggests that, in the end, Amazon will opt for Google’s Android.
Should the Kindle Phone end up being “just another Android,” it would seem that Apple will have little to fear in losing market share to Amazon in the smartphone segment, since iPhone users tend to be comprised of users who are smitten with the Apple brand and/or disenchanted with the Android platform.

<< Read Now >>

iPhone 4 Users May Be Skipping the 4S for the iPhone 5

Strong rumors of a June iPhone 5 release, together with the iPhone 4S being a form factor refresh, may have compelled iPhone 4 users to skip the 4S rush.
While early polls showed that just as many iPhone 4 users were planning to purchase the iPhone 4S iPhone 3G/3Gs users, exit polls are revealing that not nearly as many iPhone 4 users are investing in the new model, opting instead to wait for the iPhone 5. An interesting article published by the Huffington Post indicates that Blackberry and iPhone 3G/3Gs users round out the lion’s share of iPhone 4S sales: “According to a recent survey by consumer electronics site Retrevo: Blackberry users and owners of early-generation iPhones like the 3G and the 3GS, mostly. Per Retrevo’s survey of over 1,300 electronics shoppers.”
The new survey that Huffington is referencing contradicts earlier polls that indicated a surprising number of iPhone 4 users who were planning on purchasing the iPhone 4S, in spite of it featuring the same form factor and screen size of the iPhone 4. The early Retrevo study from October 12th indicated that “the study actually found almost as many iPhone 4 owners (42%) as iPhone 3G/3GS owners (44%) planning to buy an iPhone 4S,” and that ”BlackBerry owners (24%) were less interested in switching to an iPhone than we found in previous studies.”
But these initial findings are not proving to be completely accurate in the early going of iPhone 4S sales.
Still, there are elements of the Retrevo poll that hint at why iPhone 4 users — and smartphone users as a whole — may be changing their minds about the iPhone 4S. Huffington points out that, “Retrevo also surveyed its customers’ reactions to the new iPhone 4S and found that 47 percent of iPhone owners were disappointed in the new phone. The biggest reason, however, was not the lack of a new design (disappointing 21 percent of respondents), but rather the lack of 4G capability.” The disappointment over the form factor refresh and lack of 4G has resulted in an overall skepticism about the 4S that most likely would have not been the case had the iPhone 5 debuted in 2011: when asked in October, “Will you be buying the iPhone 4S?” only 24% indicated “yes,” in the survey, with 50% indicating “no” and 26% indicating “not sure.”
It would be interesting to know where those 26% “not sure” respondents stand today with the iPhone 4S, what with the reported battery issues and the prospect of the iPhone 5 being released in June of 2012 at the WWDC. At the same time, it should not come as a surprise that iPhone 4 users may end up passing on the iPhone 4S and wait for the iPhone 5: it has been a pattern among iPhone users to skip an iteration before investing in a new model. For this reason, it would make sense that the majority of iPhone 4S customers would be legacy iPhone 3G/3Gs users.
It’s also easy to account for Blackberry users switching to the iPhone 4S: RIM had a tough year and appears to be in their death knell. Blackberry users are fleeing the sinking ship.
But considering that, of the 110+ million iPhone units sold since its debut, statistics show that the majority of iPhones sold are iPhone 4 models, and that the iPhone 4 is the most popular smartphone in the U.S. market, it could mean that the iPhone 4S will in the end not live up to the hefty estimates predicted by analysts regarding the iPhone 5.

<< Read Now >>

iPhone 5 Release Date: 7+ Inch iPad 3 Would Defy Steve Jobs’ View On Mini Tablets

In his lifetime, Steve Jobs downplayed the viability of sub-9-inch tablets, tacitly stating that Apple would never release a mini iPad. But new rumors of a 7-inch “mini” iPad 3 would be Apple’s first defiance of Steve Jobs’ vision for future Apple devices. Could a Spring iPhone 5 Release Date also include a mini iPad 3?
The “mini” iPad rumor has been kicking around the Apple rumor mill for well over a year now, with many sources along the way claiming that the iPad 3 would feature either a smaller screen, or a “mini” option to the standard 9.7-inch version. After unfounded rumors that the iPad 3 would be arriving alongside the iPhone 5 in October of 2011 proved to be false, little has been said about the prospect of new tablet dimensions for the 2012 iPad until recently.
An article today in the Korean Times claims that there are credible sources that Apple is planning on releasing a 7″+ version of the iPad 3 in the Spring of 2011. According to the article: “The Korea Times is reporting that Apple is developing a smaller iPad (being called the iPad mini) with a 7.35-inch display, and a 4 inch iPhone 5. Apple and LG are reportedly negotiating a $1.1 billion deal for long-term display parts for these upcoming iOS devices from 2012 to 2016.”
Of course, if Apple was to finally release an iPad model that is below the 9.7-inch mark, it would be a major departure from the will of Steve Jobs, who never believed that “mini” tablets were viable long-term designs for mobile computing. Likely the mini tablet to a device that doesn’t know if it is either a smartphone or tablet. He even specifically stated that “The seven-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone, and too small to compete with an iPad.” With this quote in mind, would new Apple CEO Tim Cook defy Steve Jobs this soon after his death and release a 7-inch iPad?
I am beginning to think that he would.
An article on BGR recently stated that, based on Cook’s recent comments about the success of the Kindle Fire, “Cook said he was confident with the products that Apple has coming down the pipeline. The ‘iPad mini’ could be one such product — one that may go toe-to-toe with the Kindle Fire. Rumors have suggested the tablet may be smaller, or at least cheaper, than the current iPad 2. If a cheaper iPad does debut next year, the fight between Amazon and Apple could come down to each company’s respective ecosystem.”
Now that Apple is out of the hands of its founder and visionary and in the hands of a hired hand who answers to the bottom line of a board of directors, Apple is bound to see some sort of divergence from what it has been while Steve Jobs was alive. In past, investors, executives, and customers could trust Steve Jobs and his vision — even in the face of evidence to suggest that he might be wrong — based simply on his track record for success and beloved creativity. But as the years pass without Steve Jobs at the helm, we will see Apple take action on product development that Mr. Jobs would have disagreed with. Over time, the “what would Steve do?” ethic will recede.
The question is, will Apple defy Steve Jobs’ views on the mini tablet less than a year after his death?

<< Read Now >>

Was the iPhone 5 Release Date Supposed To Be in 2011?

An inside source is now claiming that Steve Jobs and Apple engineers had planned on the iPhone 5 being released in 2011, but shelved it at the last minute for the iPhone 4S.
As the iPhone 5 rumor mill begins to heat up again around what will be the iPhone 5 release date in 2012, new claims are coming to the surface that put the iPhone 5′s delay into better focus. An intriguing (and albeit unconfirmed) report from Business Insider claims that Apple was pro-actively moving forward with an iPhone 5 prototype, but abruptly halted its production about three months before the release of the iPhone 4S. According to the story: “Our source said that Apple engineers he knows thought until about three months before the iPhone 4S was released, that a new fully re-designed iPhone was going to be Apple’s next big announcement. This source said that he spent about two weeks with one prototype version of this phone.”
The iPhone 5 News Blog has reported on several stories and rumors in the past that would seem to corroborate this new claim.
On August 9th, we reported that, according to our own inside source, the 2011 iPhone was not going to be the iPhone 5, but rather the “iPhone 4GS.” The name was off, but our source was told by his own deep sources that the next iPhone would be a refresh of the iPhone 4. He followed that claim up on August 22nd by stating definitively, “the new iPhone will be a upgraded version of iPhone 4. Got this info from 2 different reliable sources.”
Our source’s timeline fits in with the timeline that Business Insider suggests: that our source was made privy to the decision to go with the iPhone 4S just about a month after Apple engineers and Steve Jobs had made the decision.
Another thing to consider is that Cupertino may have been already divided on whether to move forward with the iPhone 5 as early as the WWDC. At the time, Samsung was threatening Apple’s patents with aggressive new lawsuits that some believed could compel Apple to further delay the release of the iPhone 5.
More recent news that the full-fledged iPhone 5 never materialized in 2011 due to a faulty key component also suggests that this story may connect with what Business Insider is reporting today, and that the failure to get the A6 processor into successful pre-production may have been the cataylist for shelving the iPhone 5 in 2011. We reported about TSMC beginning work on the A6 on August 14th, which again is within the timeframe of this new story.
The Good NEws About the iPhone 5 Release Date Failure
As more and more of these reports about the failure to release the iPhone 5 in 2011 emerge, it makes the iPhone 4S seem more and more like a stand-in for what Apple had originally intended. And while that sentiment may not sit well with new iPhone 4S users, it does help to reignite excitement over the eventual 2012 iPhone 5 release — and when the iPhone 5 release date may in fact be.
I personally believe that, since the iPhone 5 prototype may already be finished and that the delay was caused by issues with one key component, like the processor, that Apple will not wait another 12+ months to release it. This, along with the fact that our own exclusive inside source is telling us that the iPhone 5 will be released in June of 2012, makes me believe that we are closer to a release than we think.
While iPhone 5 production may have been an epic fail in 2011, the fact that Cupertino was so close to releasing it at least gives us hope that little is left to do in order to make it a reality in 2012.

<< Read Now >>

iOS 5 Panoramic Camera Feature Spoiled for iPhone 5

A programmer and iPhone user has discovered a hidden panoramic camera feature in iOS 5 that was obviously meant for the iPhone 5. With the panoramic camera feature spoiled, how will Apple now upgrade the camera feature for the next iPhone? 
All throughout the 2011 iPhone 5 rumor mill, analysts and pundits predicted that one of key features on the 2011 iPhone would be a panoramic feature. Few were dismayed by the lack of the panoramic feature on the iPhone 4S — partly because disappointment in the iPhone 4S had more to do with it not being the “iPhone 5,” and partly because the camera upgrades on the 4S were impressive enough in their own right. By all assumptions, any introduction of a panoramic camera feature was to be reserved for the iPhone 5 in 2012.
A computer programmer and iPhone user, however, has put an end to any grand plan by Apple to roll out a panorama feature for the iPhone 5‘s camera. According to TechSpot and a host of other media outlets, the panoramic function and an “autocorrect bar” is present in the current version of iOS 5 and can be hacked into. Even more surprising is that “Both items can be enabled without jailbreaking your iPad or iPhone, but not without a few initial steps.”
The articles goes on to explain that “iOS hacker, Sonny Dickson, was responsible for unearthing an “Android-like” autocorrect bar Thursday morning. In fact, the autocorrect  bar is so “Android-like”, it may explain in part Apple’s reservation to include it as a production feature.” At the same time, the fact that Cupertino chose to include in the current release of iOS 5 is surprising; it is hard to believe that Apple developers assumed it would not be found, given the level of exuberance that Apple enthusiasts pour over the details and designs of Apple gadgets.
It very well be that the crux of TechSpot’s theory — that Apple recognized the feature to be too Android-like to promote, and that highlighting it would have invited scrutiny and criticism for being too derivative of the Android platform. Instead, Cupertino may have slipped in with the knowledge that it would eventually be discovered by hackers like Mr. Dickson. Why, however, would Apple include anything in iOS 5 — announced or unannounced — that would be too Android-like?

<< Read Now >>

Rumor of Defective Component Suggests iPhone 5 Could Be Close To Completion

A new report out of Asia is indicating that the full-fledged iPhone 5 never materialized in 2011 due to a faulty key component. If this is the case, then the iPhone 5 might be just one piece away from completion.
The biggest story in the never-ending iPhone 5 rumor mill right now is when the iPhone 5 will be released. You’ve heard conflicting reports even here on this blog: while my source has indicated that the next iPhone will debut in June of 2012, Charles posted an article yesterday that rounded up the educated guesses of the rumor mill’s Bill Palmer, who argues that a release date may not be set in stone and will be predicated on how well the iPhone 4S sells over the long term.
Regardless of who you are inclined to believe at this juncture about the iPhone 5 release date, a new report today is suggesting that the iPhone 5 may have been all but complete in the Summer, with only one flawed — but critical component — holding up its release.
This report is coming from an Koean website Hankyoreh, which says that the only reason why the overhauled iPhone 5 didn’t make its appearance in 2011 was due to a faulty part being manufactured by a Taiwanese components supplier: “Industry rumors have emerged that the reason Apple was unable to release the iPhone 5 was due a problem with stability of a key part, whose production had been newly assigned to a Taiwanese company. This story has it that the Taiwanese component failed to meet the required stability standard during tests conducted before mass production of the iPhone 5, making delay of its release inevitable.”
While the article never stipulates that this “component” was the A6 processor, the sub-text of the article suggests that this issue — which also involves Samsung — must be referencing the rumors that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC) was to take over production of Apple’s future A6 chip, which we originally reported back on August 14th. But on October 17th, an update to this story suggested that Samsung was back on the job for the A6 processor job.
Hankyoreh‘s article seems to corroborate this, when they quote Samsung as stating in a press release: “As far as we understand, Apple newly assigned production of two key components for its iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to a Taiwanese company, but these showed problems such as overheating during final tests.”
There are some positive assumptions that we can make from this report: one, that the iPhone 5 will indeed feature an even more powerful A6 processor that will be manufactured by Samsung who, in spite of their feud with Apple, has managed to maintain a high level of quality in producing Apple’s chips, and that the iPhone 5 may very well be “complete,” and is just awaiting Samsung’s ability to get A6 chip production ramped up.
I would argue that this development further suggests that a June iPhone 5 launch is credible.

<< Read Now >>

The iPhone 3GS: Apple’s New “El Cheap-o” iPhone Model

Tech analysts have long bristled at the notion that Apple would ever offer a pre-paid “el cheap-o” iPhone. But the iPhone 3GS is still hanging tough for the sweet price of $0, giving iPhone hopefuls the closest thing to an “el cheap-o” iPhone model.
For months, I, along with other tech writers, scoffed at the notion that Apple would ever have three iPhone models on the market at one time, and/or that one of them would be an “el cheap-o” model. And yet, that is exactly what Apple has done. I totally called that one wrong.
Granted, Apple didn’t do it in the way that some thought they would; they didn’t release some stripped-down iPhone, or co-release two new iPhone models. Instead, they have just kept the iPhone 3GS around, dropped its price tag to $0, and now are giving prospective iPhone customers three distinct pricing options at Apple.com. BusinessWeek has a good article about it, commenting that “Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3GS model is more than two years old and shunned by gadget snobs, and yet it’s turning into one of the company’s bigger weapons against devices running Google Inc.’s Android software this holiday season.”
By doing it this way — keeping the iPhone 3GS around along with the 4 and 4S —  they have avoided the “gas pump” problem that I postulated in the Summer, suggesting that an iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 would confuse consumers, and that the 4S would be like “Plus” grade gasoline.
Instead, the iPhone 3GS occupies a unique place in the smartphone marketplace: it is not a “stripped down” iPhone, but rather a legacy device that was once a powerhouse. It is like having the opportunity to purchase a Miami Vice-style Ferrari Testarossa from the 80s that is in pristine condition. Sure, it may not at the same level as a 2011 model, but you’re still getting an exceptional sports car.
And all indications are that, in spite of some early reports that said the opposite, the iPhone 3GS is holding its own with iOS 5 . . .and even Siri!
Christian Post is is reporting that “During yesterday’s Siri port stories, it turns out the iPhone 3GS worked better with the artificial intelligence system than the iPhone 4.” The article goes on to report on the porting tests, and how the 3GS can handle Siri with few problems at all.
Some are going so far as to say that, pound for pound, the iPhone 3GS is still the best of the current three iPhones being offered, based on price to performance ratios. That’s the claim that Industry Today is making, noting that in the UK, carriers are offering as much as £150 in instant cash back when people purchase the iPhone 3GS. To be sure, it might be overstating it a bit to make such a claim, but even if you take the hyperbole out, there is a truism to the viability of the iPhone 3GS: it still holds it own in the smartphone market as an impressive smartphone that you can essentially get for free.
Will the iPhone 3GS Still Be Around Once the iPhone 5 Is Released?
Given the impressive longevity of the iPhone 3GS, could it still be available once the iPhone 5 is released? Most likely not: I can find no evidence to support the notion that the 3GS is still being produced. The reason why it is still available is simply that, when it was first released, the 3GS didn’t sell like hotcakes like the 4 and 4S have. Also, the 3GS was — and still is — available on AT&T only. And given that AT&T has already sold out of it, it is safe to assume that it probably won’t last.
But what do I know?
For all we know, Apple has warehouses full of 3GSs, and in the end, we’ll have the iPhone 5, 4S, 4, and 3GS — one big, happy family of iPhones to compete against the likes of Android and its multiple price-tiers of smartphones.

<< Read Now >>

Rumor of Defective Component Suggests iPhone 5 Could Be Close To Completion

The biggest story in the never-ending iPhone 5 rumor mill right now is when the iPhone 5 will be released. You’ve heard conflicting reports even here on this blog: while my source has indicated that the next iPhone will debut in June of 2012, Charles posted an article yesterday that rounded up the educated guesses of the rumor mill’s Bill Palmer, who argues that a release date may not be set in stone and will be predicated on how well the iPhone 4S sells over the long term.
Regardless of who you are inclined to believe at this juncture about the iPhone 5 release date, a new report today is suggesting that the iPhone 5 may have been all but complete in the Summer, with only one flawed — but critical component — holding up its release.
This report is coming from an Koean website Hankyoreh, which says that the only reason why the overhauled iPhone 5 didn’t make its appearance in 2011 was due to a faulty part being manufactured by a Taiwanese components supplier: “Industry rumors have emerged that the reason Apple was unable to release the iPhone 5 was due a problem with stability of a key part, whose production had been newly assigned to a Taiwanese company. This story has it that the Taiwanese component failed to meet the required stability standard during tests conducted before mass production of the iPhone 5, making delay of its release inevitable.”
While the article never stipulates that this “component” was the A6 processor, the sub-text of the article suggests that this issue — which also involves Samsung — must be referencing the rumors that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC) was to take over production of Apple’s future A6 chip, which we originally reported back on August 14th. But on October 17th, an update to this story suggested that Samsung was back on the job for the A6 processor job.
Hankyoreh‘s article seems to corroborate this, when they quote Samsung as stating in a press release: “As far as we understand, Apple newly assigned production of two key components for its iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to a Taiwanese company, but these showed problems such as overheating during final tests.”
There are some positive assumptions that we can make from this report: one, that the iPhone 5 will indeed feature an even more powerful A6 processor that will be manufactured by Samsung who, in spite of their feud with Apple, has managed to maintain a high level of quality in producing Apple’s chips, and that the iPhone 5 may very well be “complete,” and is just awaiting Samsung’s ability to get A6 chip production ramped up.
I would argue that this development further suggests that a June iPhone 5 launch is credible.

<< Read Now >>

Top Source Claims: iPhone 5 To Have “4-inch Screen and Will Be Announced in June, 2012″

The iPhone 5 News Blog’s exclusive source has just told us today that the iPhone 5 will deliver on a bigger, 4-inch screen, a thinner form factor, and will be announced in June of 2012.
An anonymous source for a top consumer electronics accessories corporation confirmed to the iPhone 5 News Blog today that the iPhone 5 is indeed in the works, will feature an expanded, 4-inch screen, a thinner form factor, and will be announced in June of 2012 — ostensibly at the next World Wide Developers’ Conference (WWDC). The Blog received word that a credible tip was coming last night, and today we were told directly from our source: “It’s going to have a 4″ screen and will be announced in june2012. it will be thinner too… When I hear more, I’ll let you know.”
This is the same source that correctly informed the iPhone 5 News Blog in August of this year that the 2011 iPhone release would in fact be a refresh of the iPhone 4 and keep the same screen size and form factor. That claim was first revealed by our source on August 9th in this article, and then later reaffirmed on August 22nd, and again in the wake of the bogus Case-Mate iPhone 5 publicity stunt that sought to claim the case designer had insider knowledge of the iPhone 5′s new form factor design. In that last claim, our source called the Case-Mate leak “a hoax” and assured us that the next iPhone would be an iPhone 4 refresh.
Our source’s track record proves the veracity of his new claim: he was right about the iPhone 4S, and I believe that he is right about the iPhone 5.
Thinner iPhone 5 + Larger Screen + A6 Processor = More Battery Problems?
Should the iPhone 5 debut as our source is claiming, with a thinner profile, larger screen, and the up-coming A6 processor, should iPhone users be concerned with battery performance? A thinner form factor would mean a thinner battery, and a larger screen and more powerful chip would also place higher demands on the power supply.
And this doesn’t even take into consideration the 4G LTE rumors that claim the iPhone 5 will become Apple’s first 4G LTE smartphone.
It would stand to reason that if Apple intends to roll out a larger screen, thinner design, A6 chip, and 4G LTE on the iPhone 5, we are most likely looking at a revolutionary new battery design. Perhaps this is why Apple chose not to upgrade the battery on the iPhone 4S, keeping their new battery designs under wraps for the 2012 iPhone 5.

<< Read Now >>

Apple Confirms Battery Drain on iPhone 4S, Promises Software Fix

Early predictions that the iPhone 4S would have battery issues have been proven true by early users’ complaints that the new iPhone doesn’t hold its charge. Apple confirmed today that there’s a glitch; will issue a software update to address the issue.
Since the release of the iPhone 4S, early adopters have been complaining of low battery life, even when running only the most basic apps and services on the phone, such as e-mail and texting. Today, Apple confirmed that the iPhone 4S’s battery is performing badly, and that they will address the issue with a software update, which will curtail excess battery drain.
Apple guru Jim Dalrymple of The Loop confirmed today that Apple had contacted him directly about the issue in order to get the word out to iPhone 4S users that they are aware of the situation and are moving quickly to rectify it: “A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices,” an Apple spokesperson told The Loop. “We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”
While ” a few weeks” may seem like a lifetime for iPhone 4S users who are suffering from high battery drain, the fact that Apple is addressing the situation so quickly only proves how real the problem is.
Way back on October 6th, the iPhone 5 News Blog was the first tech blog to voice concerns about the battery on the iPhone 4S, noting that by upgrading the processor and operating system, adding Siri, and tweaking the display (a revelation that came later in reporting), but not upgrading the battery, longevity would be a concern for the new iPhone. Much in the same way that iPhone 3Gs users complained of a sluggish battery in light of the 3G’s performance, so too are iPhone 4S users experiencing lethargic battery life compared to the iPhone 4.
Apple’s software update will doubtlessly improve the battery life, as will to some degree the best practices guides and tips out there on  the web. But it remains to be seen if a software update can really make a substantial difference for the iPhone 4S’s battery performance as long as the A5 processor is purring inside of it.

<< Read Now >>

In Spite of Costs and Speed Issues, Sprint Revels In iPhone 4S Investment

Sprint’s deployment of the iPhone 4S on its network has been incredibly costly and fraught with early technical issues. But in spite of the price tags and tech headaches, getting the iPhone has been a lifesaver for the U.S.’s third-largest carrier.
Almost immediately after it became official that Sprint was getting the iPhone, skeptics began handicapping how long and to what degree Sprint would fail at offering high quality services for the iPhone 4S, and balking at the deal that Sprint had to cut with Apple to land the iPhone product line. But in the end, getting the iPhone 4S and accompanying iPhone 4 has been — for the short-term at least — a net win for Sprint.
Speaking on the matter, Sprint CEO Dane Hesse commented that their deal with Apple to secure the iPhone has been ”worth every penny,” and that the iPhone’s real value is not simply its high-profile in the marketplace, but rather how the iPhone performs on Sprint’s data network, which is turn is solidifying the company’s ability to continue offering its industry-leading unlimited data plan.
Hesse explains: “One of the beauties of carrying the iPhone is it extends the period of time and increases the likelihood of us maintaining unlimited data longer because it uses our network so efficiently.” And analysts are confirming what Hesse is saying: the iPhone 4S consumes approximately 50 percent less data compared to its Android competitors.
Sprint has a large nut to crack when it comes to the iPhone 4S: their deal with Apple requires them to purchase 30.5 million iPhones from Apple over the next four years, and they are paying almost 40% more for each handset. But the value for Sprint is how the iPhone 4S is onboarding new customers, and plugging up the loss of customers to AT&T and Verizon for not having the iPhone in the past. Hesse confirmed this by commenting: “Our early results selling the iPhone and iPhone 4 confirm the iPhone’s ability to attract new customers.”
Even if Sprint’s profit margin on iPhone sales pales in comparison to AT&T and Verizon, their ability to bolster their subscriber numbers will be a major windfall for them over the long term.

<< Read Now >>

No Siri On iPhone 5 — Is the iPhone 4S Apple’s

Siri has quickly become the defining feature on the iPhone 4S. But a new article suggests that the iPhone 5 could feature a next-generation assistant that will replace Siri. Is the iPhone 4S looking more and more like a testing ground for future Apple mobile technologies?
If you’re loving Siri on your iPhone 4S, it might be both the first and last iPhone iteration to feature it. A new report from CP suggests that Apple may intend to replace Siri as soon as 2012 on the iPhone 5: ”The next Apple iPhone is expected to receive a complete revamp, with updates to both its software and external chassis. Industry experts speculate that this could also mean an update for the artificial intelligence system, Siri. . . Apple has stated that the program is meant to be exclusive to the 4S.”
That last statement is particularly crypic: when Apple says that iPhone 4S is the “most ordinary means” for running Siri, it is clear that they want to ensure that users do not exploit the ability to port Siri functionality onto the iPhone 4. Because, let’s face it: Siri is really the defining feature that makes the iPhone 4S different from the iPhone 4. While the A5 processor is indeed fast, both iPhones can run iOS 5, and both look essentially the same. It takes Siri to really sell the iPhone 4S, and so Apple is making sure to brand Siri as a proprietary component of the 4S.
But CP is also inferring that Siri’s primary purpose is to sell the 4S, and that by the time the iPhone 5 comes along, there will be a bigger, better assistant-like technology that will quickly replace Siri: “Experts suggest that if Siri is an iPhone 4S exclusive, that Apple may have more plans for the virtual personal assistant, for future generations of iPhones.”
Given the fact that the iPhone 5 is expected to sport a brand-new form factor, larger screen, the A6 chip, and even possibly an iOS 6 operating system, it isn’t impossible to imagine that even Siri could get an upgrade. We’ve already written about the prospect of Siri getting smarter and more interactive in the future, since it seems to work much like a search engine algorithm. But the idea of seeing Siri come and go on just the iPhone 4S begin to raise the specter of Apple’s newest iPhone iteration being a kind of “guinea pig,” testing the market for Siri-like features and the performance of the iOS 5 operating system.
This isn’t to say that the 4S experience has been disappointing for everyone: new iPhone users and those upgrading from the iPhone 3G and 3Gs are enjoying the speed, performance, and novelty of what the new iPhone has to offer. But if the speculation turns out to be true and the iPhone 5 will make its debut as early as the 2012 WWDC, the iPhone 4S could turn out to be a perceived rest stop on the way towards a serious overhaul for the iPhone franchise.

<< Read Now >>

Large-Screen iPhone 5 In Time For New Multi-Touch, 3D Apple Paten

Apple’s new multi-touch 3D patent reveals a next-generation approach to gesture control that is featured on the iPad in schematics. But Apple’s new focus on this technology could also involve increasing the screen size of the iPhone 5 as well.
In an article this week, PCWorld took a close look at a fascinating new Apple patent that could dramatically revolutionize the gesturing experience on mobile devices such as the iPad and iPhone. Writer Eric Mack explains: “The focus of the patent is gesturing by making motions with the fingers across a multi-touch screen, but it also mentions 3-D gesturing using a device’s front-facing camera. This could bring technology similar to that employed in the Microsoft Kinect to iOS devices.”
In layman’s terms, Mack associates the new patent to the same investigative tools employed by Tom Cruise’s character in the landmark film The Minority Report. Ever since that film was released, its sci-fi depiction of fluid, holographic-based gesture control has set the bar for what tech users hope the consumer electronics industry will someday develop.
In the patent, Apple is clearly using the iPad as its vehicle for this kind of new technology, most likely imagining that the 9.7-inch screen dimensions of its tablet device. But it would stand to reason that Apple will continue to strive to create parity between the iPad and iPhone — I expect Siri to make its debut on the iPad 3. In the same way, there is no reason to believe that Apple will not equip the iPhone with the same breakthrough gesture controls as the iPad in the years and models to come.
In this way, I can imagine more justification that the iPhone 5 will feature a larger screen.
Many iPhone enthusiasts believe that the long-running larger screen rumor for the iPhone 5 will eventually come true by virtue of users calling for it. I argue, however, that Apple is not committed to increasing the size of the iPhone’s screen simply to compete with the likes of top-tier Android smartphones; they will need a better reason than that to beef up the size of the screen.
But a revolutionary new 3D approach to multi-touch gesturing could be a worthwhile justification.
Bear in mind that this new multi-touch gesturing patent is unlikely to show up on the iPhone 5 — patents can take years to develop and implement. However, if this patent reveals the direction that Apple is moving in from a design perspective, it would stand to reason that bumping up the screen size of the iPhone could be just around the corner.

<< Read Now >>

iPhone 4S’s Siri Is a Search Engine, Will Compete With Google Search

If you’ve already invested in the new iPhone 4S, chances are you’re most excited about its top gadget: Siri. To be sure, Apple has touted Siri above all of the other new features on the iPhone 4S, including a much-enhanced camera array, as well as a bevy of improved hardware features that Apple has chosen to downplay into order to highlight the software side of its latest iPhone iteration. There’s no doubt that those early images of the guy jogging with his iPhone and having Siri shuffle his appointments is something right out of depictions of the future.
Of course, there is plenty that Siri cannot do, and it hasn’t taken long for the wise guys of the tech media to point them out. Fortunately for Siri, it cannot have its feelings hurt or intelligence insulted.
Yet.
In spite of its limitations, Siri is proving to be much more than simple voice recognition software. It does exhibit an intelligence; a flexibility to understand connotation and meaning that up until this point has been non-existent in the consumer end of voice recognition (who knows what the military may have). And the way that Apple is achieving this is not via a simple app, but rather through similar technologies used by Google’s own search algorithms.
As a result, I think that, with Siri, Apple just got into the search business and will be looking to go head to head against Google Search in the decades to come.
Tom’s Hardware has a comprehensive article on all of the new hardware upgrades for the iPhone 4S (thanks to Core2 for sending it to me). You’ll be surprised to see how much hardware is actually improved, from the battery to the screen, camera, video and beyond. But what I found most interesting was their in-depth look into how Siri works. I was shocked at how similar it is to Google Search.
Writer Andrew Ku explains: “. . . we should clarify that Siri isn’t just an app. Provided you’re asking questions and not giving commands, Siri is a service that interfaces with Apple’s servers to find a response. As such, the ‘intelligence’ behind Siri may change over time as the company optimizes its code.” In other words, just as Google regularly tweaks its algorithm — this year, they have rolled out several “Panda” updates in order to provide better search results to users — so too will Apple update its own search algorithms to make Siri more intuitive when you ask it something.
Ku goes on to explain that, like Google, Siri is all about processing keywords and keyword phrases: “Whenever you ask a question, Siri checks to see if it contains a keyword. This list of keywords only takes precedence over general syntax rules when Siri doesn’t recognize the string of words as a question. A given keyword sets off a function like looking up the weather. So far, we’ve worked out that this list includes: clothing, weather, food, restaurants, hospital, and clinic.” Granted, that is still a limited list, but in fact, those six categories are key search terms for mobile users, and will provide Apple with a basis for greatly expanding its search results capabilities in the very near future.
Where Siri still lags behind Google is in extrapolating sentence syntax and structure. Whereas Google Search has the ability to adjust to various syntax typed into the search box, Siri is still somewhat rigid in how you have to talk to it in order to get sensible results. Ku explains: “Syntax matters a lot. I’ve spent the better part of a day experimenting, and Siri definitely prefers the English standard of subject/verb/object, as opposed to object/subject/verb or object/verb/subject. Basically, don’t talk like Yoda. Questions, commands, or statements that contain extra or unessential words confuse Siri.”
But this shouldn’t be seen as an oversight or clumsy limitation overlooked by the Apple developers. In fact, it is a result of a much more sophisticated process that Apple is using to fetch search results with Siri: whereas Google Search benefits from you inputting the search keywords and criteria, Siri appears to be more of a two-step process, where the front end processes whether or not the voice request is a command or request, and then routes that request either to a proprietary response mechanism or to a search algorithm.
Where Is Apple Getting Its Search Results From?
I have no doubt that Apple intends Siri to become a search standard for the tech mobile community. They will be sure to keep it proprietary and heavily patented, and go after Google as soon as they try to improve their own voice recognition to mirror what Siri is already doing. As a result, I think that Apple has just gotten into the search business without actually saying that they’ve gotten into it. While many people would have expected Apple to develop an internet-based search engine like Google or Yahoo, instead, they have essentially hidden their search engine behind Siri.
Or, maybe we can simply assume that Siri is a search engine.
But I will end this article with a question: where is Siri getting its search results from? Apple has not to my knowledge admitted to building a Google, Yahoo, or Bing-like search engine, and yet Siri behaves like a search engine when it provides keyword-based results. We know that they are not tapping directly into google, since google would have already let us know about that if it were the case. The only assumption left is that Apple has its own search engine behind the scenes.

<< Read Now >>

New iPhone 5 Renderings Deliver On Larger Screen, Home Button

Designer Antonio De Rosa’s new iPhone 5 renderings offer a solid guess at what the next iPhone 5 could look like.
The iPhone 5 rumor mill is never lacking in renderings and mock-ups. And because the rumor mill has essentially been reset as a result of the iPhone 4S release in October, consumers won’t have to worry about renderings being passed off as real prototype sightings: everything we’ll see over the next few months will be nothing more than conceptual sketches from outside sources.
That being said, graphic designer Antonio de Rosa, who has posted some impressive renderings in the past for the iPhone 5, has just released a new batch of iPhone 5 renderings that are in keeping with Apple’s aesthetics while delivering on all of the top-tier rumored features for the next iPhone: larger screen, enhanced home button, and aluminum unibody.
De Rosa’s renderings are based on a 4.3-inch screen that is almost what you’d call “edge to edge,” as well as the elongated home button, which many believed would debut in 2011 and feature some kind of sophisticated gesture control upgrade. De Rosa also imagines the all-metal body to be of “unibody” construction, thanks to groundbreaking “LiquidMetal” technology, which many believe will also debut on the iPhone 5.
In spite of the smooth, sleek lines, some argue that De Rosa’s renderings for the iPhone 5 are too much in line with the latest batch of top-tier Android smartphones. MobileMag argues: “I don’t know about you, but the stretched out iPhone 5 is starting to look a fair bit like the Android superphones that are out there with their 4+ inch displays. Something like the HTC EVO 4G (sorta, but not really). The edge to edge display looks nice, but I’m not sure I’m a fan of that grey-ish curved back.”
I tend to agree with MobileMag‘s general observation, particularly as it relates to the larger screen size on the iPhone 5. While many are calling for capacious new screen dimensions on the next iPhone, there’s no doubt that taking the iPhone 5′s screen size up to similar dimensions of the HTC EVO 4G and other Android smartphones will by default bring the design more in line with Android; a larger screen design will essence put to rest a design paradigm that has been quintessentially “iPhone” for years now. In this way, iPhone users calling for a 4+ inch screen better be ready for an iPhone that resembles more of an Android form factor.
Another interesting design characteristic of De Rosa’s renderings is the curved back. MobileMag comments, “. . . I’m not sure I’m a fan of that grey-ish curved back.” I, too, have misgivings about an overly curvacious back to the iPhone 5, which I have expounded on in another article. While the curved back might feel nicer in the palm of one’s hand, the balance and stability of a flat, square back is ultimately a more reliable design for today’s busy smartphone user.
All of this being said, De Rosa has effectively started the conversation again about what the iPhone 5 will look like, and how it might come to debut ner, groundbreaking features.

<< Read Now >>

Apple’s Hardware De-Emphasis With iPhone 4S Release Deliberate?

HardMac’s Lionel notes that with the launch of the original iPhone, Apple was able to surprise the entire phone industry and corner an incredible market share in just a few years. However, he observes that many are suggesting that the relatively unambitious iPhone 4S upgrade marks the end of hardware innovation on the iPhone (although he recalls that the same was said after the iPhone 3GS launch). Apple obviously didn’t try to revolutionize the device by changing its form factor radically, concentrating instead on internal upgrades including the new dual-core A5 chip — a substantial enhancement from the single-core A4 used in iPhone 4, the new 8 megapixel camera with improved lens optics and 1080p video recording resolution, — up from the iPhone 4′s 720p — and the improved “World Phone” dual antennae.
However, Lionel thinks, the feature that will contribute most to the iPhone 4S’s success is Siri, the new personal assistant, which is not hardware-based but rather run from Apple’s servers, which he perceives to be the core dynamic of Apple’s new marketing strategy, adding services to the hardware equipment to add an extra value to the device, which also applies to iCloud, iTunes match and probably other services to be unveiled in the future.
NeoWin’s Brad also predicts that also predicts that Siri represents the future for Apple, with the iPhone 4S rollout only the start of a grand plan, not just for smartphones and touchscreen slates, but also desktop and laptop computers. Sams predicts that Apple will kill the keyboard and mouse for most tasks on all of these devices, replacing them with voice control input, and suggests that this transition is happening faster than you might think, having been underway since the day the iPad was released early last year.
Sams observes that OS X 10.7 Lion’s application launcher imports the familiar iOS icon-based layout to OS X, while its App Stores are creating a unified platform that can go anywhere and do anything, so as long as Apple says its OK, predicting that in the not so distant future direct application downloads to OS X will be gone and replaced with an iOS-style App Store-only environment
Not of course that Apple wants you to stop upgrading your Apple hardware. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Adam Turner notes, that Apple has made iCloud is an all or nothing proposition, leaving users choosing to hold off installing OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS5 out in the cold, not to mention users of older Apple hardware who would upgrade to Lion and iOS 5 if they could, but are blocked. The iOS5 upgrade doesn’t support the iPhone 2G or 3G, is reportedly not an entirely happy upgrade for 3GS iPhones, and you can’t upgrade to Lion if you’re running a pre-Intel Mac, or even some of the earliest Intel Macs.
Turner suggests that crunch time has arrived for iUsers, to wit: either be prepared hand your digital life over to iCloud or turn your back on Apple and look for other ways to sync your data – Google being an obvious choice for those looking for device-agnostic cloud services. He says that even if he was prepared to jump through Apple’s hoops this time, who’s to say he wouldn’t get burned again the next time Apple feels like introducing a new service and killing off an old one, concluding that “its time to cut the cord,” bridling at Apple’s habit of forcing users to play by its rules, and refusing to lock himself into Apple’s iWay of doing things.
And one of those things will likely be less emphasis on hardware innovation and form factor change. It’s arguable that Apple wanted to give Siri a trial run as a beta in the iPhone 4S in order to be able to offer it as a final, stable release in the iPhone 5, and have iCloud sorted out as well. Consequently, I’m still pretty confident there’ll be an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 sometime in 2012 with a quad-core A6 CPU. The question is whether Apple will accede to demand for a form factor overhaul, with a larger display and a curved back. Not everyone is displeased that Apple chose to stick with the 3.5″ Retina display with iPhone 4S, with proponents of the latter arguing that the 4″ displays in some Android smartphones makes them uncomfortable to hold and less conveniently pocketable.
Last week in a research note cited by CNET’s Brooke Crothers, Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar predicts that the next-generation iPhone will be a complete redesign, with a slimmer profile and larger screen size but with the same dimensions as the iPhone 4S, so the screen will presumably be configured to utilize more of the phone’s front surface area rather than being radically larger. Kumar also suggests that the next iPhone is also expected to have LTE/4G support, and debut around the time of Apple’s Developer’s Conference in the summer of 2012.

<< Read Now >>

T-Mobile Explains Why No iPhone 4S, Further Evidence of 4G iPhone 5

Sprint’s media event on October 7th sparked new speculation that the 2012 iPhone 5 will indeed be a 4G LTE smartphone. Does T-Mobile’s recent comments about why they are not carrying the iPhone 4S also suggest that 4G for the iPhone 5 is a reality?
While the form factor and screen size were the leading rumored upgrades for the iPhone 5 prior to the somewhat anti-climactic iPhone 4S announcement on October 4th, the leading rumors for the 2012 release of the iPhone 5 recently have been all about 4G. Much of the reason for this is Sprint’s otherwise sleepy follow-up press conference on October 7th, which, in addition to heralding the inclusion of the iPhone 4 and 4S, spent a lot of time talking about a major 4G rollout for the company (of which they currently do not have the money to complete), starting in mid 2012.
Many feel that, based on the comments of Sprint’s executives, that it is not a coincidence that Sprint is now selling the iPhone and rolling out the 4G LTE red carpet a.s.a.p. We wrote an article about it here.
Today, T-Mobile has made it back into the iPhone 4S news cycle by giving a more detailed explanation as to why they won’t be carrying the iPhone 4S “this season.” In a nutshell, Apple hasn’t blessed the partnership — probably a result of the still unsettled issues of the ATT/T-Mobile merger — and thus is either unable or unwilling to make an iPhone 4S that works on the T-Mobile 3G network.
In a statement, T-Mobile said the following: “T-Mobile thinks the iPhone is a good device and we’ve expressed our interest to Apple to offer it to our customers. Ultimately, it is Apple’s decision. The issue remains that Apple has not developed a version of the iPhone with technology that works on our fast 3G and 4G networks.”
In some ways, consumers, analysts, and investors could all take this statement to be a public challenge to Apple, persuading/slightly embarrassing them into including T-Mobile into the list of U.S. mobile companies that carry the iPhone. But another perspective on this recent statement may give yet another circumstantial piece of evidence that Apple’s iPhone 5 may in fact end up on the T-Mobile network, sporting 4G LTE capabilities.
Another line of the statement reads as follows: ”We believe a capable version of the iPhone for our 3G and 4G networks would offer an additional compelling option for our customers on a fast 4G network. However, the iPhone is not the only option to experience the benefit that smartphones offer.”
When T-Mobile refers to a “capable version of the iPhone,” are they referencing the iPhone 4S or a yet-to-be released iPhone 5 with true 4G capabilities?
It is pure speculation of course, but I believe that this is a suggestion that T-Mobile is jockeying to get the iPhone 5 in 2012, as they believe it will indeed be a “capable version of the iPhone” that will be 4G.
If you are an iPhone user who was disappointed by the lack of 4G on the iPhone 4S, I believe that this is yet another shred of evidence that 4G LTE is coming to the iPhone 5.

<< Read Now >>

Teardrop or Curved: What’s the Purpose of a Reshaped iPhone 5?

iPhone 5 will a new form factor, with design concepts ranging from an ergonomically curved display to a sleek teardrop shape. Should Apple adopt one of these design concepts for the iPhone 5, what will its purpose be for the consumer?
When it comes to dreaming about the new form factor for the iPhone 5, there are two sides to that dream: the front and the back. The front of the iPhone 5 is all about a larger screen, and maybe even an edge-to-edge screen, smart bezel, or some other new design concept that would enhance the mobile computing experience. But it is on the rear face of the fabled iPhone 5 that everyone hopes for a new shape.
While many have attempted to create renderings and mock-ups of how the iPhone 5 could look, most of the concepts center on two prevailing rumored shapes: teardrop and curved. The reason why these shape concepts exist is that top rumor sites claimed that Apple was indeed working on chassis (plural) for the iPhone 5 in these shapes. You’ll recall how Digitimes broke the story of Apple investing in 200 to 300 glass cutting machines for the purposes of crafting curved glass displays for an iPhone 5 design that would be similar in shape to the convex Nexus S.
There’s no doubt that a new shape to the iPhone 5 will breathe some renewed excitement into the iPhone franchise, since the iPhone 4 form factor will have been the form factor standard for about 2+ years by the time the new iPhone is released. But aside from the aesthetic shift, what do the curved and teardrop designs do to improve the iPhone 5, if at all?
Curved iPhone 5: Ergonomic
The prevailing logic behind a curved glass, curved body iPhone 5 is ergonomics. First championed by the Nexus S, the idea is that the chassis of the phone wraps around your face slightly, providing for a more comfortable telephonic experience. It remains to be seen, however, how much of a real benefit this feature is to the user. Much like the rise of 3D screens on smartphones, the rationale for an ergonomic, curved glass design has obviously not proven to be valuable enough to see mainstream adoption across the wide range of smartphones on the market today. Yes, a few others have followed suit, but by and large, consumers have not flocked to this sort of design; the iPhone 4/4S, for example, is flat as a board and continues to outsell other smartphones pound for pound.
The other factor to consider with a curved iPhone 5 design is that, if the back is also curved, the phone won’t sit flush on a flat surface. Given the amount of time that smartphones spend docked on a desk or table for charging, users may not appreciate the wobbly effect of a curved back to match the pitch of the curved front.

The "wobble" factor on this teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 would be high.

The Teardrop iPhone 5: I’m Bored to It
Even more unsubstantiated is the proposed “teardrop” iPhone 5 design, which has also made it rounds throughout the iPhone 5 rumor mill. The teardrop design, after all, was the groundbreaking new form factor that shamed iPhone case companies like Case-Mate, Hard Candy, and all of those shyster el cheap-o Chinese case manufacturers bet the farm on with their premature iPhone case ejaculations.
I have scoured the Internet in search of any article, analysis, or other piece of content that explains the purpose of a teardrop-shaped iPhone 5 above and beyond “it looks way cool.” Some renderings of the teardrop design actually show it to be a curved back but flat front. If Apple were to adopt this preposterous design, the iPhone 5 user would end up getting the worst of both worlds: they get a flat front that doesn’t curve with their face, and a wobbly back.
Still others feature a flat back that slopes downward, so that the top of the phone is rounded and thicker than the bottom — a more realistic “teardrop” design as well. In this way, the iPhone 5 wouldn’t wobble when flat, but what kind of benefit could it have to the user? The shape, after all, would seemingly throw iPhone case designers for a loop, since the case would have to be meticulously crafted to stay tightly fastened to the chassis.
The only possible functional purpose for a teardrop design would be if Apple chooses to feature a pico projector. Some have speculated on a tiny projector that could effectively project presentations, videos, photos, and anything else up onto a wall or screen from the top and/or bottom of the phone while sitting on a flat surface. A slanted, pitched screen as a result of the teardrop back could put the touch screen at a better angle for viewing in tandem with the projection.
Another idea I’ve seen related to the pico projector is to make it holographic, allowing the user to project a large virtual keyboard onto any flat surface and type on it. This kind of innovation would substantiate the pitched screen even moreso.
But truth be told, features like these are pipe dreams for right now.
In the end, my guess is that Apple likes the general concept behind the iPhone 4/4S’s form factor. They’re sticking with it. I remain unconvinced that Apple will necessarily feature an asymmetrical curved design just for the sake of aesthetics. they will have to consider functionality as well. But even if the iPhone remains flat, that doesn’t mean that Apple won’t somehow make it cooler.

<< Read Now >>

While Supplies Last: How Long Will the iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4 Remain In Stock

Apple is currently offering three iPhone models — the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and legacy model iPhone 3GS. But with the 2012 iPhone 5 possibly on tap in less than a year, how long will the iPhone 3GS & 4 remain available?
During the iPhone 5 rumor mill doldrums of the past summer, rumors of a dual-release iPhone 4S and iPhone never seemed all that plausible: how, after all, would Apple successfully sell an iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 4 all at the same time? But in spite of the fact that Apple held off on releasing the iPhone 5, we now find ourselves with three iPhone models being offered at the same time: Apple is still offering the 3GS via AT&T for $0 dollars (an early rumor that in fact came true!)
Because the iPhone 3GS is so “legacy” at this point, it doesn’t cause the “three’s a crowd” consumer confusion problem that the 5, 4S, and 4 would have together caused. That being said, when the iPhone 5 is released in 2012, will the iPhone 4S and 4 both still be available?
It’s safe to assume that the iPhone 3GS will drop from the ranks sooner rather than later, since production no longer exists for that model. According to AT&T’s website, the iPhone 3GS is now out of stock, meaning that Apple is simply selling off the last few that remain in their own warehouses. I’d be surprised if the 3GS stock even makes it to Christmas.
As for the iPhone 4, there doesn’t appear to be any information out there at present that suggests if it remains in production, and if not, what its shelf life may be from a supply standpoint. Granted, given the fact that the iPhone 4 and 4S both share many of the same parts, it is easier for Apple to keep it in production — it must be considerably less expensive to manufacture at this juncture, compared to the iPhone 4S.
Why would Sprint use the term “while supplies last” for a brand-new product like the iPhone 4? After all, Sprint just got the iPhone 4. It is highly likely that the iPhone 4 is currently winding down as well, and that Apple plans on phasing out the iPhone 4 in time for the announcement of the iPhone 5 is 2012, so that they can avoid having the iPhone 5, 4S, and 4 all being offered simultaneously.
I also think it suggests that the iPhone 5 could be released sooner than a year from now — such as at the WWDC.
This is just speculation on my part, but I would suggest that Apple will not keep the iPhone 4 in production once the iPhone 5 goes into mainstream production; even if the iPhone 4S and 4 share similar components, it is unlikely that Apple would stretch production demands like that. In this way, we can imagine that, once we hear that iPhone 4 has wined down, we can see this as a cue that iPhone 5 production may be beginning.
And if Sprint is already hinting of a slowdown in iPhone 4 production, then it isn’t unrealistic to assume that the iPhone 5 production schedule could get going in early 2012.

<< Read Now >>